{"id":"6126d69a-ab44-4a45-b38f-d97b28ff6fa2","url":"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-10-30/justice-department-cant-threaten-election-workers-to-stop-processing-ballots-judge-rules","domain":"latimes.com","outlet":{"name":"Los Angeles Times","country":"US","cred":4,"lean":-1,"curated":true},"title":"Justice Department can't threaten election workers to stop processing ballots, judge rules","plainHeadline":"Judge bars DOJ from threatening workers to stop processing ballots","rewrite":{"model":null,"at":null},"summary":["Federal judge in California barred DOJ from threatening or coercing election workers.","Order issued by U.S. District Judge Trina L. Thompson in the Northern District of California.","Emergency ruling issued without DOJ weighing in on the case.","The decision cites the proximity of Election Day and ongoing ballot processing.","The ruling also prevents DOJ from demanding segregation or non-counting of potentially ineligible ballots."],"topics":["Politics"],"lang":"eng","publishedAt":"2026-10-31T03:59:44.000Z","ingestedAt":"2026-10-31T04:42:03.628Z","story":"https://brief.concise.news/story/00ab1ee1-ad8c-4cde-9a47-b5e2d411d909","storyId":"00ab1ee1-ad8c-4cde-9a47-b5e2d411d909","image":"https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ff900b4/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x1575+0+213/resize/1200x630!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fff%2Fc2%2F529086f94559b85878fc4072ed50%2F80b62e487358450dad1954d65c3b6aac.jpg","author":null,"dek":"A federal judge in California on Friday barred the Justice Department from threatening or coercing election workers to stop processing ballots."}